Next month is National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo for short, in which the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. The story I’m writing this November has a working title of “Park People.” It’s a science fiction thriller. I’ve never written a thriller before. So far it’s been an interesting process.
Right now, I’m working on outlining the plot and developing the necessary characters. For fun, I thought I might write up some background research, needed to make the story work right. Here’s how I’ve set the stage:
The whole thing started when an exploratory spacecraft from a distant planet strikes the Earth some 55 million years ago. It hit somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains, but the evidence of it’s collision has all but disappeared.
It’s important that the collision happened 55 million year ago. This was a time of rapid global warming on Earth, not unlike what we’re witnessing today. (It’s also the topic of my own, real, scientific research.) The causes of warming 55 million years ago are in debate, but most blame increased carbon dioxide from the release of methane clathrates.
But what if it was something else, like the impact of an extraterrestrial vessel?
This ship released millions of nanobots onto the Earth, their mission to explore and report back to their home planet. But the impact and subsequent activities of the nanobots affected global climate. The nanobots only lasted on the surface for a few years, thankfully. But their effects were lasting and recorded in the rock record.
Fast forward 55 million years. A geophysical survey via satellite has noted a semi-circular gravity anomaly under a small Appalachian town. A team of geophysicists decides to go check it out, searching for potential ore deposits. They drill a few test wells. One of these wells penetrates the hull of the 55 million year old debris. Surviving nanobots escape.
Thus begins our story.
Penny Higgins - Storyteller • Artist • Scientist 